Baku-Ceyhan pipeline resumes operation after Dec 7 shutdown9 DecemberThe Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline has resumed operation after it shutdown on December 7 owing to a leak on the Turkish segment, BP-Azerbaijan told Interfax. Botas, the operator of the Turkish segment of the pipeline, blamed the leak on an attempt to illegally tap into the pipeline. "Oil transportation on the pipeline resumed on Wednesday evening. BTC is exporting oil in full measure," a company representative said. The shutdown did not affect oil production at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields, condensate production at Shah Deniz or tanker loading at the Ceyhan terminal. Alongside oil from Azerbaijan, in June 2010 the BTC pipeline began shipping crude from Turkmenistan. It also has an agreement to ship Kazakh oil from Tengiz. The BTC pipeline stretches 1,768 kilometers, including 443 km in Azerbaijan, 249 km in Georgia and 1,076 km in Turkey. The pipeline has capacity to ship more than 50 million tonnes of oil a year. The project participants include BP (30.1%), State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) (25%), Chevron (8.9%), Statoil (8.71%), TPAO (6.53%), Eni (5%), Itochu (3.4%), ConocoPhillips (2.5%), Inpex (2.5%), Total (5%) and Amerada Hess (2.36%). (Interfax)

Kazakh, Tajik officials discuss energy24 NovemberTajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov said Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will expand bilateral trade, including energy. Oqilov, speaking at a news conference in Dushanbe, said: "Today Kazakhstan holds the leading position among CIS countries in terms of foreign trade with Tajikistan. Trade between our countries increased by 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of this year as compared to (the same period of) last year. "We have discussed cooperation in power engineering and agreed our stances on the use of water balance; this is a sensitive issue. I think we will come to a decision which will satisfy all the countries in the region on the issue." Oqilov made his comments following a meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov and his delegation, Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported Wednesday. In addition to energy issues, Oqilov said the sides had discussed during the talks prospects for cooperation in topics including "food security, including long-term supplies of grain from Kazakhstan to Tajikistan, a range of issues on military cooperation and cooperation in tourism." (UPI)

STANDOFF SIMMERS IN SOUTH KYRGYZSTAN9 NovemberAt least 20 people were arrested near the southern Osh region of Kyrgyzstan for occupying land illegally, deputy officials in the region said. Around 500 Kyrgyz protesters from the region arrived in the ethnically diverse south during the weekend with plans to divide the area into plots. More protesters arrived Tuesday, saying they wouldn't vacate the area unless the land was distributed among ethnic Kyrgyz. Ethnic violence gripped the southern Kyrgyz cities of Jala-Abad and Osh following an April coup that forced deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee the country. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands were displaced in conflicts between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities. Kushbek Tezekbaev, a deputy regional governor in Osh, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the action of the Kyrgyz group is illegal. "We are demanding that people obey the law," he added. Kyrgyzstan held elections in October. A party loyal to the deposed president was among the five leading groups tasked with forming a new government. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva said last week she thought a new parliament would have its first meeting Nov. 12, though authorities in Bishkek said the legal challenge was in part to blame for a decision to hold off until later this week. (UPI)

GEORGIA POSITION ON RUSSIAN WTO MEMBERSHIP “UNCHANGED” 5 OctoberGeorgia will not support Russia’s WTO membership unless issue of border-crossing points in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia is resolved, spokesperson for the Georgian President said on October 5. “Georgia’s position remains unchanged,” Manana Manjgaladze said. “Georgia can not support Russia’s WTO membership, unless conditions put forth by the Georgian authorities are met, including issues related with border-crossing points [in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia] and set of other issues persisting between Georgia and Russia.” Speaking to investors and government officials at the International Economic Alliance forum in New York on September 22 President Saakashvili said, that Georgia was not the only impediment to Russia’s WTO membership. "There are many issues out there between them [WTO] and Russia," Saakashvili was quoted by Reuters. "So we were not the last ones left and you should give us some time until we are maybe the last ones ... Maybe we won't be the last ones. But right now there is a long line of countries.” (Civil Georgia)